Why do we believe that we can perform multiple tasks at the same time without any hindrance to learning? Does multitasking really exist? Is it really beneficial for students? Here is where most of the students go wrong. They don’t understand how exactly multitasking works in their brain, when to do it, when to avoid it and how to make the best use of it.

The illusion of simultaneousness in multitasking

Multitasking refers to simultaneous/concurrent processing of two or more tasks. Please take note of the word ‘simultaneous’ as it plays important role in our understanding of multitasking. Technically, ‘simultaneous’ means at the same instant of time. But now in context of multitasking, it is also used in short for ‘perceived simultaneousness’ or ‘illusion of simultaneousness’. Now you would ask, why? Because most of the time multitasking involves context switching, which means that only one task is performed at an instant of time but the tasks are constantly juggled/switched giving the illusion of simultaneousness.

So, how does it affect us?

Your brain cannot process two relatively different thoughts simultaneously. It makes heavy use of context switching between different thought processes. Surprised? But it’s true. Whenever your brain switches from one task to another, it saves the current state of the task so you can come back to it later (somewhat similar to ‘hibernation’ in Windows machines). So, in essence your brain is processing information in serial order and not in parallel fashion. These context switches are not free. They cost time and perhaps more. The time costs are directly related to your familiarity with the task. Thus, when you are doing complex unfamiliar tasks, you are actually taking more time to finish them by constantly switching between them than if you had done them sequentially.

Multitasking and learning

As we learned just now that the time costs for context switching increases with the complexity and unfamiliarity of the tasks, we can easily conclude that multitasking hinders learning. Why? Because learning involves delving into unfamiliar territories which is not favorable for context switching. So, it takes more time to finish the learning task. Secondly, the available ‘attention’ resource is limited at any instant of time. A learning task requires more attention and you might compromise its requirement if you are multitasking it with other tasks that compete for your attention. Even my computer hangs when I switch between different windows too fast. It needs some time in between not only to switch the context but also to come to a ready state. Similarly, your brain takes time to come to a ready state after context switching and if you switch too fast, you might not be able to concentrate on learning. Same goes for tasks that require creative thinking and imagination.

In my personal experience, multitasking leaves me unsatisfied with my work except when I am doing trivial or repetitive tasks and the goal is just to finish the tasks rather than learning something new. When the goal of a task includes learning, e.g., reviewing research papers for publications, I find it efficient to do the tasks one at a time. Serial execution also gives me satisfaction as I get enough time to absorb what I learned and to think about new ideas.

Multitasking and students

Two main aspects of multitasking are context-switching and attention resource. From what I have read, my conclusion is that multitasking, in general, should be avoided, especially by students. The goal of a student is not just to get things done but to learn new concepts and develop the thinking process. But while multitasking, different tasks compete for the limited resources in your brain and thus, there is no room for learning and thinking. Agreed that brains of younger people are better capable of switching contexts efficiently than those of grown-ups but too much of context switching is going to decrease your attention span and your ability to concentrate, in long terms. In habitual multitasking, your brain gets into a habit of being in hyperactive state whenever you take up a task to finish and it diminishes your ability to focus and concentrate on the task at hand.

If multitasking is inevitable, then it should be planned in a way that requires less context switching and makes best use of your available attention at the moment. Don’t ask me how. I am still trying to figure it out. Also, it is said that if the tasks are drawing resources from different parts of the brain then it doesn’t affect our performance. For example, I have experienced a few times that music helps me concentrate better. It might be because that particular music doesn’t require much of my conscious attention and that’s why context switching might not be happening, or it might be that I focussed my attention completely on the task at hand that I didn’t notice any phonetic distractions. I don’t know the answer but I am eager to find out.

Now, I have become more conscious of how I perform a task or multiple tasks. I first try to recognize the type of tasks I want to do. Do they require my full attention? Do they require me to concentrate and think? Are they trivial tasks? Are they familiar tasks? Are they repetitive tasks? Based on these questions, I decide whether I should perform more than one tasks at the same time or do them sequentially. Being a graduate student and having most of the ‘to-do’ tasks related to my research, the option that comes more often is sequential processing instead of multitasking.

Even if you are not a student, I would suggest you to check your multitasking habits and see if it helps or hinders your growth. As I have said earlier too, we are always learning and my experience says that multitasking hinders learning. In the end, it is upto you to decide if multitasking is for you or not.

Also read

1. Is multitasking more efficient?
2. The multitasking generation – Claudia Wallis
3. Multitasking wastes time and money – Megan Santosus
4. Multitasking makes us stupid – Kathy Sierra
5. How not to multitask – Leo Babauta

Sleep well:

Most of us fail to realize the importance of a good sleep. It is not just a form of rest. It helps our body to perform critical physiological functions. But it is difficult to determine how much sleep your body requires. Every individual has different needs. It doesn’t matter how many hours you sleep. What matters is whether your body is happy with that much amount of sleep or not. If I wake up by myself feeling energetic and enthusiastic for the day, I can say I had a good quality sleep.

Meditate:

Meditation is not a religious practice. It is important to be able to focus on only one thing at a time and meditation helps in doing that. It has spiritual relevance too but let’s not go into that now. I don’t meditate in traditional sense. For me, meditation means to focus on my body and my inner self without thinking of anything else. So, when I exercise all I concentrate on is my body rythm and breathing pattern and that’s meditation for me. Swimming is also an excellent option in which you have to concentrate on your body movements and breathing in order to swim well.

Healthy breakfast:

I read somewhere that the most brain damaging habit is not to have a breakfast. After the overnight fast and lack of glucose in the body, it is imperative to consume some protein and fiber rich food products. When I used to stay with my parents, there was not a single day that I missed my breakfast and all credit goes to my mother. But since I have been staying on my own, I have become more and more negligent. Running our body on low fuel till noon is not good. So, start having a healthy breakfast and get a good start for the day.

Limit TV:

Control your TV watching. If you observe your TV watching habits, you will realize that mostly it is waste of time. But that is not the only problem. All the programmes on TV show ads in every 15 minutes, so it breaks the continuity. Also, most likely you have a TV with a remote controller and your fingers are always playing with it skipping channels and surfing back-n-forth. This increases fidgetiness in your behaviour and it affects other aspects of your life too. I have reduced TV watching by restricting myself to 2 hours of TV per week. And when I want to watch more, I just rent a movie and watch it without a break.

Limit internet use:

This is easy to say but difficult to do. It depends on how much necessary it is for you to be online to get your work done. Most of the time, either I am searching for articles for my research or looking for some solution to software bugs. But now, I have made it a habit to print the article of my interest, leave my cubicle and read it somewhere where I don’t have access to net. But still many times I see myself using refresh button unnecessarily in the middle of some task. I am still looking for efficient ways to reduce the effect of this distraction.

Take time-outs:

Not just simple breaks but rewarding breaks. I reward myself with sunshine by going out for a walk after getting a task done in the lab. Breaks are generally distracting unless they are for a purpose. So, give a purpose to every break even if it is just talking to a colleague or checking your emails. You need to figure out what you need to do in your time-out to get a fulfilling break.

Read books:

Reading definitely increases your attention span. Read what interests you but try to avoid short stories. If I find some interesting novel/book to read, I find myself sitting for 5-6 hours straight without any breaks even if the TV is on.

Get close to nature:

This I accomplish by taking walks during my breaks, or taking a weekend off for some outdoor activity like camping. Attention span is mostly affected by stress, most of which comes from external sources. When you are with nature, you tend to go back into your natural state which is free from any kind of stress, worries or/and anxiety because that’s the way you were born.

Obviously, you can see how the same activities can help in other aspects of your life. We all already know these things but still don’t follow them. Why? Because we don’t assign a goal to them. Without a goal, we cannot measure our development. Here I am targeting to increase the attention span. You will notice the difference if you follow even some of the steps and it will motivate you further. Moreover, you will observe positive effects in other aspects of your personal development.